Parshas Re’eh
BACKROUND: The Roman philosophers are arguing with the Jewish Sages, and now attempt to prove that Avodah Zorah has some truth to it.
???? ??? ???? ???? ????
A man serves Avodah Zorah and rain falls.
(Talmud Avodah Zorah (65A)
This cannot be true as it says in Tanach ????? ???? ??????? -the vanity of the idol worshipers is foolish (a pun of the word for rain).
The Midrash comments on this that does not fall by magic or demons, it only falls by the Command of Hashem.
The answer could be, that since Hashem commandson Rosh Hashona that the rain fall’s on a certain day in a certain place. The ??????? (the ‘external forces’), hear Hashem’s decrees on Rosh Hashona and mislead some people
The command of Hashem is done with speech, which reaches these idol worshipers in a dream.
If Hashem would not use speech, but thought (?????) then the idol worshipers would not hear this in a dream, and therefore would not ascribe it to there idols, and therefore would not worship the idols.
This is why the Jewish Sagess reply ‘ ?????? ?????? ??? ?????’ he smoothed there words (they have evidence that idol worship has a some truth ) in order to drive (the idol worshiper’s) from the world, i.e. he causes it to rain (sometimes) on the day they pray to there idol, He let’s nature (???) take it’s course and the idol worshipers are punished for not seeing God in the ???.
(Ben Yehoyoda)